County to split administrator’s former positions

SYCAMORE – DeKalb County will separate the positions of deputy county administrator and finance director formerly held by current county administrator Gary Hanson.

Hanson suggested in January that his former role as deputy county administrator and finance director be divided into two separate positions. After some discussion during the board’s Executive Committee meeting last week, the motion was carried unanimously to present the resolution to the full board Wednesday.

But some board members expressed concerns.

“This issue comes before the board with many questions still remaining,” said Anthony Cvek, R-Sycamore.

Cvek said he didn’t want to decouple the two positions without working out the details first. He said the responsibilities of the deputy county administrator still were unclear.

Ultimately, the board voted to approve the finance director position and table the deputy county administrator position, sending it back to the Executive Committee for discussion.

Hanson, who was promoted to county administrator in 2012, said the salary of the deputy county administrator is still being worked out, but the finance director would earn $85,000 to $100,000 a year. But he said splitting the positions would be more cost effective, saving the county somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000.

The search for a finance director has begun, which Tracy Jones, R-Kirkland, said should’ve been brought to the board beforehand.

“In essence, we are voting to approve something that has already happened,” he said.

Jones said advertising for the finance director position alone implied that the county had already made the decision to separate the two positions.

But Hanson said if they were to keep the positions as one, they would have to advertise differently, which would delay the process.

“My concern is to get the finance director hired,” he said.

Julia Fullerton, R-DeKalb, supported Hanson.

“There’s no question in my mind that these two positions need to be separate,” she said. “We’ve grown immensely as a county.”

Hanson said the interview process for finance director will begin soon, and he hopes to have a new person in the position by the next County Board meeting in March.